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Stress Controls on Transport Properties of the Mercia Mudstone Group: Importance for Hydrocarbon Depletion and CO2 Injection

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Stress Controls on Transport Properties of the Mercia Mudstone Group: Importance for Hydrocarbon Depletion and CO2 Injection View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by NERC Open Research Archive DOI: 10.1016/j.marpetgeo.2018.02.009 Stress controls on transport properties of the Mercia Mudstone Group: Importance for hydrocarbon depletion and CO2 injection J.F. Harrington, C.C. Graham, E. Tamayo-Mas, D. Parkes DOI: 10.1016/j.marpetgeo.2018.02.009 Reference: JMPG 3237 To appear in: Marine and Petroleum Geology Please cite this article as: Harrington, J.F., Graham, C.C., Tamayo-Mas, E., Parkes, D., Stress controls on transport properties of the Mercia Mudstone Group: Importance for hydrocarbon depletion and CO2 injection, Marine and Petroleum Geology (2018), doi: 10.1016/j.marpetgeo.2018.02.009. Marine & Petroleum Geology DOI: 10.1016/j.marpetgeo.2018.02.009 Stress controls on transport properties of the Mercia Mudstone Group: importance for hydrocarbon depletion and CO2 injection Authors J.F. Harrington, C.C. Graham, E. Tamayo-Mas and D. Parkes. Affiliations British Geological Survey Addresses British Geological Survey, Environmental Science Centre, Nicker Hill, Keyworth, Nottingham, UK. J.F. Harrington ([email protected]) Abstract The physical properties of the Mercia Mudstone Group (MMG) are of interest to Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) in the UK, both in terms of the sealing capacity of certain horizons and in order to assess scenarios involving CO2 migration in the overburden above potential CCS sites. In this study, the hydromechanical properties of MMG samples from the Larne Basin, Northern Ireland, were directly measured under steady-state conditions. Test samples were found to be good seals, with hydraulic permeabilities ranging from ≈2.1x10-18 to 8.4x10-21 m2 (2.1x10-3 to 8.5x10-6 mD). A detailed examination of the consolidation behaviour of the material yielded values for compressibility, hydraulic permeability and specific storage, as a function of effective pressure. Consolidation testing also provided preconsolidation pressure values of between 30 and 37 MPa. Test data were fitted to a linear elastic model using a two-dimension finite element approach, yielding hydraulic permeability and Young’s Modulus, as a function of effective pressure. Findings suggest localisation of flow, due to small-scale heterogeneity, may play a role even in relatively large test samples. Results also highlight the impact of methodology on resulting permeabilities and the importance of using values measured at boundary conditions appropriate for the specific application. Critical state envelopes were derived from test data and used to conduct a scenario analysis, considering a range of stress paths, to examine the impacts of depletion and reinflation during CO2 injection. Initial stress conditions, stress path gradient and caprock heterogeneity were all found to be influencing factors on the potential for yield during depletion and the resulting deformation mode. The response to CO2 injection is less clear, but will be impacted by the initial caprock permeability and resulting drainage response. An awareness of these controls on caprock performance during stress path changes may aid in the selection of depleted CCS sites with geomechanically favourable characteristics for reinjection. Keywords Mercia Mudstone, caprock, CCS, critical state yield envelope, permeability, elastic moduli 1. Introduction Marine & Petroleum Geology DOI: 10.1016/j.marpetgeo.2018.02.009 Understanding material response to changes in stress is relevant to many reservoir scenarios, particularly towards the end of production. It is also important for future Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) schemes, during reinjection, especially in scenarios where the stress-state is close to the yield envelope (Harrington et al. 2011). In particular, the reuse of depleted hydrocarbon reservoir for CCS may provide certain advantages, such as well-constrained geology and pre-existing infrastructure (Mott McDonald, 2012), but prior stress history during hydrocarbon production may have an impact on the reservoir and surrounding rock (Zoback, 2010). Stress changes during depletion may cause compaction, reactivation of faults, subsidence and/or damage to infrastructure (Hettema et al., 2002; Segall, 1985; 1989; 1998) though the response to further stress changes on reinjection is less well known. The hydromechanical properties of caprock materials, such as clays and shales, are highly dependent on the stress history to which they have previously been exposed. Void ratio, permeability and the elastic moduli are all dependent on effective pressure. Nevertheless, although a substantial body of work exists examining stress path dependency on the material properties of reservoirs (Jones et al., 1986; Holt et al., 1991; Schutjens et al., 2004; Hangx et al., 2013; Lynch et al., 2013; Cuss et al., 2016), there is a limited amount of experimental evidence examining the influence of stress history on caprock behaviour. The objectives of this study were to examine the influence of effective pressure cycling on the hydromechanical properties of the Mercia Mudstone Group (MMG), a sealing succession belonging to Triassic hydrocarbon fields and potential CO2 storage sites in the southern North Sea and in the Irish Sea. These results form part of a larger project, CONTAIN (the impaCt of hydrOcarbon depletioN on the Treatment of cAprocks within performance assessment for CO2 InjectioN schemes). Direct measurement of hydraulic permeability in tight, clay-rich lithologies is non-trivial (Yang and Aplin et al. 2007), due to the exceptionally small flow rates expected at realistic in situ conditions. Achieving steady-state flow can be time consuming, especially for larger, more representative sample volumes. As a result, availability of direct permeability measurements in tight mudstones and shales is limited and values are often inferred from petrophysical properties, though recent findings indicate a need for caution for this approach when used with new data-sets where permeabilities fall below 1x10-19 m2 (Busch and Hildenbrand, 2013). Availability of direct permeability, k, measurements in MMG samples under in situ conditions is exceptionally limited. A large amount of hydraulic and physical properties data relating to the MMG is available within the engineering geology community (Hobbs et al., 2002). However, the majority of this information relates to material derived from shallow depths, where weathering and meteoric water-flow have impacted on the physical properties of the material. Typically, measured permeabilities are higher than for geological seals in a hydrocarbons context. More recently, Armitage et al. (2016) examined permeabilities of MMG samples taken from the Willow Farm borehole, East Midlands. They measured k at varying effective pressures, which varied from around 1x10-16 to 1x10-19 m2. However, the changes in void ratio leading to permeability reduction on loading were not measured, meaning that the preconsolidation pressure could not be estimated. Data in relation to the consolidation state of the MMG is limited. Some information is derived from the engineering geology sector, where it is generally described as ‘heavily overconsolidated’ in nature (Chandler, 1969), though this is a relative term and is used in the context of the shallow subsurface. There is, therefore, a severe lack of data in relation to the mechanical response of the MMG at burial depths appropriate to CCS targets in offshore Ireland and the UK. Marine & Petroleum Geology DOI: 10.1016/j.marpetgeo.2018.02.009 In this study we describe the MMG material tested and the experimental procedure, before presenting experimental findings, which include quantification of the effective pressure dependency of void ratio, intrinsic permeability, specific storage, compressibility and elastic moduli for the MMG samples. Values for preconsolidation pressure, associated with the maximum burial depth during compaction, are also given. A numerical approach is used to model test data and facilitate interpretation of the results. Finally, a critical state mechanics analysis is conducted, considering the potential for yield for a range of stress path scenarios. 2. Material and methods 2.1. Stratigraphic context The Mercia Mudstone was deposited in a number of small, fault-bounded, subsiding basins (e.g. E. Irish Sea, Cheshire, E. Midlands) across the UK, during the mid-late Triassic. Generically the unit was deposited in a paleo-mud-flat environment, but due to variations in subsidence level, sediment source and fluvial input, the unit is both lithologically and stratigraphically variable (Hobbs et al., 2002). A detailed review of mineralogical analyses of the Mercia Mudstone Group (MMG) is provided by Hobbs et al. (2002). Primary non-clay minerals observed include quartz, calcium and magnesium carbonates, calcium sulphates, micas, iron oxides and halite. There may also be feldspar and some very small quantities of heavy minerals present. The clay fraction within the Mercia Mudstone is primarily composed of illite, chlorite and mixed layer clays (illite-smectite, chlorite- smectite), although in some horizons pure smectite may also be found. Figure 1. [A] Stratigraphic correlation of the Mercia Mudstone Group across key UK basins, as synthesised from Manning and Wilson (1975), Wilson (1993), Johnson et al. (1994), Hobbs et al. (2002) and Howard et al. (2008). [B] Map showing the sampling location at Carrickfergus in Marine & Petroleum Geology DOI: 10.1016/j.marpetgeo.2018.02.009 relation to the Larne Basin and
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